Liberty Island and the Statue Of Liberty are currently being evacuated following unconfirmed reports of a 'suspicious package.' A National Parks Service spokesperson confirmed that they were doing security sweeps and that there is an evacuation happening, but could not immediately say why. You can see video of that below. Update 3:30 p.m.: The suspicious item has been identified and cleared.
Being evacuated from Liberty Island New York pic.twitter.com/t4B6XwV9Sh
— Karla Chavez (@karscool) April 24, 2015
Waiting to be evacuated off #libertyisland. Interesting. pic.twitter.com/C0WAdbZRyB
— Rick Borgmeyer (@flyingtigers) April 24, 2015
Confused people on the island have started tweeting about what's happening.
Came over to go up into the statue of liberty only to have everyone evacuated off liberty island. Swat team here. #whatsgoingon
— Brett B (@bartholomew37) April 24, 2015
What's going on, on #ellisisland and the #statueofliberty ?
— Magen Martin (@missmagen23) April 24, 2015
@RichMP: Statue of Liberty being evacuated ? No one knows why at the moment #statueofliberty #libertyisland #evacuate
— Richard Pope (@RichMP) April 24, 2015
According to a CNN reporter, the suspicious package was inside a locker at the Statue Of Liberty. Another reported Tweeted, "Telephone bomb threat called into the Statue of Liberty around Noon. NYPD Bomb Squad on scene. Threat mentioned a package inside a locker."
Officials had no other immediate information available. We'll update as we learn more.
Update: Ellis Island is also apparently being evacuated due to the situation at the Statue of Liberty:
Being evacuated from Ellis Island due to suspicious package found at Statue of Liberty. http://t.co/b7TzUDa3HK
— David Resnic (@dresnic) April 24, 2015
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island currently being evacuated. #News12bx
— Stephanie (@StephBrooksBX) April 24, 2015
Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and Battery Park Ferry are all on standby. Boats are returning to Manhattan for refunds.
— John Asbury (@johnasbury) April 24, 2015
Liberty Island Evacuated....view from Ellis Island. pic.twitter.com/WNJ9TeJV8j
— Fitch94 (@fitch94) April 24, 2015
Update 1:30 p.m.: The U.S. Park Police released a statement, "United States Park Police and New York Police Department are working to confirm a report of a suspicious package - Liberty Island has been evacuated as a precaution."
NOW: #ESU #Harbor #BombSquad #Aviation responding to #LibertyIsland for susp package job. Island being evacuated pic.twitter.com/39nPmeX43o
— NYPD Special Ops (@NYPDSpecialops) April 24, 2015
Update 2:30 p.m.: The National Park Service has now confirmed that the evacuation and lockdown of Liberty Island is over.
Update 4:20 p.m.:
At approximately 11:33AM the United States Park Police was advised of a telephonic bomb threat against the Statue of Liberty. In response, U.S. Park Police canine units conducted a sweep of Liberty Island and alerted on a possible suspicious package in a visitor locker.
The Statue of Liberty, adjoining buildings, and Liberty Island were evacuated to ensure the safety of all visitors. The New York City Police Department Harbor Unit, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and the New York City Fire Department responded to assist.
Following a thorough check of the site New York City Police Department’s EOD deemed the area safe. Due to the clearing time and regular scheduled closing hours of Liberty Island the monument will remain closed for the remainder of the day
Statue Cruises also gave a statement on behalf of the ferry operator at Liberty Island:
“Statue Cruises is thankful for the prompt and professional response by National Parks Service regarding today’s incident on Liberty Island and greatly appreciates everyone’s cooperation, including emergency personnel and of course all the passengers who sailed with us today,” said Mike Burke, Vice President and COO of Statue Cruises. “We safely transported approximately 2,700 people from Liberty Island and all were offered full refunds. We are working with NPS to reunite passengers with their belongings left behind as a result of today’s events. Service to Liberty Island will resume Saturday morning at 8:30 am.”